01 July, 2011

Pen to paper

So, Husband has been at home the past few days.  He asked pretty, pretty please to keep the laptop while I went to my job.  So I left it with him.  Which left me with out a keyboard and hard drive.  So, no way to write anything.

It was weird.

But then I remembered that at one point in history, people actually used to write things down with pencils and stuff, so I dug out my notebook(s) full of old crappy stories I wrote a long time ago and settled down work.  And I had work to do.  I had to get the end of the third book of trilogy in order.  The characters were kind of wondering around aimlessly with a vague, yet unsettling idea that disaster was approaching, but no clear way to deal with it.  Meaning, I had no idea how to make it work and they had been arguing for five thousand words before I could fit it all together.

After that I got a cramp in my hand and decided to take a break.  My puppy received some unlooked for ball-chasing in the backyard.  She was pleased.  She likes Husband keeping the computer.

Then I went in and looked through some books.  I've read just about everything in the house, except the Star Trek books, which do not interest me in the slightest.  (Sorry, MJ.)  But, there was a half shelf of Louis L'Amour books which I hadn't read and/or had forgotten I had read.

That sounds weird, but actually makes perfect sense.  The majority of his books have exactly the same plot.  Which is what makes them so awesome.

If you've never read L'Amour, you should.  Some are so-so.  Some are down right boring.  But most are great, short, fast-paced little westerns where the good guy always wins and gets the girl (if one is to be had) and the gold/ranch/horses/silver/whatever.  The villains are villainous, and if there is an anti-hero, he at least is easy in his own conscious about his nefarious past.  No nonsense about morality and what is right and wrong and all that.  None of that Sergio Leone 'what is good and bad,' seventies trippy western stuff.  Good guys are good and bad guys are bad.  Usually ends with a gun fight.

But now I obviously have my computer back.  And I have more work to do.  There wasn't much of a point to this post, other than to say westerns are cool.  I think westerns and samurai/martial arts stories are similar, too.  How American is it that instead of developing a sophisticated martial art, we invented revolvers and repeating rifles?

E.T.

2 comments:

Ryan Pesch said... Reply to comment

I own an incredible amount of Louis L'Amour books, and I agree. I think his best writing comes out in the non-westerns (Sitka, Last of the Breed), but the westerns are iconic. There's something so perfect about the lone cowboy and his tragic heroics. I doubt I'll ever read all the westerns I own, but it's nice to look at them on the shelf and know they're there in their consistency.
Oh, and I know what you mean about rediscovering paper and pencil. Though my drought has probably been even longer, since I use my smartphone when I don't have a full keyboard at my disposal. And I'm never without my phone, and so never in need of paper.

Anonymous said... Reply to comment

I have actually written a couple of post on paper, just to give my wrist a break. LOL And most of the time, I can read what I wrote. However, always glad to be back at my laptop. :)